(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #284, April 14, 2006)
GRAPHIC: LLC XI logo
After months of whispering, now it can be said out loud: Minnesota will host the eleventh annual Leather Leadership Conference April 20-22, 2007. The theme of the conference is “The Art of Sharing Power.” The worldwide leather/SM/fetish community is cordially invited to attend.
The Leather Leadership Conference (LLC) is a national organization dedicated to strengthening the leather/SM/fetish community by developing the leadership skills of community members and fostering a greater sense of connectedness between and within community groups. LLC hosts annual conferences where attendees share their knowledge and experience.
LLC was inspired by the annual “Creating Change™” leadership-development conferences for the GLBT community presented by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF). The first LLC was held in New York City in 1997. New York City also hosted LLC X, the just-completed tenth edition of the conference. The first public announcement that Minnesota would be the host for LLC XI in 2007 was made at the conclusion of LLC X on April 9.
LLC XI is within easy driving distance for folks in other midwestern cities in the U.S. and Canada. Those farther away will find they can make easy, often non-stop, air travel arrangements. (Or, if you’re fed up with the airlines, consider Amtrak.)
Host hotel will be the Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis. The hotel, which has earned a four-diamond rating from AAA, offers beautiful rooms and convention facilities. It is convenient to a dazzling variety of restaurants. And it’s connected by the pedestrian-only Loring Greenway to Loring Park, the Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.
Keynote speakers for LLC XI will be New York-based photographer, artist and activist Barbara Nitke, and International Mr. Leather 2003 (and current chair of the Spanner Trust) John Pendal of London, UK.
Besides the keynote speakers, plans for LLC XI include a Friday-night opening cabaret program, a large and varied selection of workshops and seminars on Saturday and Sunday, and closing ceremonies on Sunday afternoon.
LLC XI is a must-attend event for leaders of the leather/SM/fetish community. But it’s also a great place for those interested in becoming leaders. Perhaps you’re a long-time community activist; maybe you’ve recently assumed a leadership role with a club or organization; or you might be new to the community and looking for a way to get more involved. If you care about this community and want to serve it, lead it and help it grow stronger—and you want to spend a weekend with a group of people who are committed to those same goals—you belong at LLC XI.
“The Art of Sharing Power” was chosen as the theme for LLC XI because both “Art” and “Sharing Power” reflect aspects of Minnesota’s leather/SM/fetish community and of Minnesota’s culture, history and politics in general.
Almost from its beginning Minnesota has been a progressive, populist, grassroots-oriented state. Minnesota’s political history is filled with examples of activism and leadership that flow bottom-up rather than top-down.
Not surprisingly, Minnesota’s leather/SM/fetish community shares many of these characteristics. Increasingly, community leadership has been shared by many different individuals and organizations, rather than being dominated by a few leaders or one large organization.
Both Minnesota and Minnesota’s leather/SM/fetish communities have become more diverse in recent years. While Minnesotans still may be stereotyped as Scandinavian and Lutheran (refer to the movie “Fargo”), Minnesota’s citizens and culture have become increasingly diverse in recent decades. For the most part that diversity has been accepted, if not always enthusiastically embraced.
Likewise, Minnesota’s leather/SM/fetish community has grown, and paradoxically both diversified and unified, over the last decade or so. Groups that formerly kept to themselves have started talking with one another, working with one another, and supporting each other’s events.
One of the results of this coming-together has been an amazing succession of annual Minnesota Leather Pride events—produced by, and attended by, members of many different community organizations. With the continuing success of Minnesota Leather Pride, it was felt that perhaps the time had come to take things to the next level by hosting a national, or even international, leather/SM/fetish event.
Minnesota is an art-rich state. The Minneapolis/St. Paul area is considered the capital for the arts in the Upper Midwest—there are two large nationally-known art museums, two nationally-known orchestras, and more theater seats per capita than any other American city (including New York City).
LLC XI will draw on the Minnesota’s amazing artistic and cultural resources to create a rich, stimulating environment—using the arts to help conference participants explore LLC’s traditional topics, community and organizational leadership skills, in a new and unprecedented way.
It has taken many hours from many committed volunteers to bring LLC XI this far, and it will take many more volunteer hours during the next year to make it the profound conference we know it will be. The LLC XI organizing committee invites you to consider attending, consider presenting a workshop, consider volunteering your time to help make this event happen.
Mark your calendar now, and watch the LLC website (<www.leatherleadership.org>) over the coming months for more details.
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